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Fantasy and Science Fiction July 2020
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The Secret of Spellshadow Manor
by
Bella Forrest
What would you do if you found yourself recruited to an institute of magic, only to discover you really couldn't do magic? What if your enrollment there was all one big, terrible mistake? If you were at Spellshadow, you'd keep it a secret. A deep, dark, deadly secret ... Because Spellshadow's elusive Head is hiding a secret of his own, one that Alex soon realizes he and his friend Natalie must uncover at all costs if either of them wishes to leave the Manor alive ... and before it's too late.
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Goldilocks
by
Laura Lam
Welcome to: Cavendish, a habitable exoplanet ten light-years from Earth, where a crew of women astronauts known as the Atalanta 5 go after stealing a spaceship from NASA. If they survive the trip there that is. . .
Why you might like it: This character-driven hard SF novel by the author of False Hearts delves into both the technical challenges and ethical dilemmas of space colonization.
For fans of: Emma Newman's Planetfall novels; Mary Robinette Kowal's Lady Astronaut series; Becky Chambers' To Be Taught, If Fortunate.
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Chaos Reigning by Jessie Mihalik What happens: Princess and spy Catarina von Hasenberg joins forces with bodyguard Alex Sterling on an undercover mission, which requires them to pose as a couple while attending an exclusive house party.
For fans of: Catherine Asaro's Skolian Empire series or K.B. Wagers' Indranan Wars series.
Series alert: Chaos Reigning is the 3rd book in the Consortium Rebellion series, after Polaris Rising and Aurora Blazing. | |
The Girl and the Stars
by
Mark Lawrence
In some children, the old blood shows, giving them strength, speed, and mystical power. In the cities of Abeth's Corridor, children with the old blood are prized. But on the ice plains of Abeth, those traits lead children to burn bright and die young, and the priests are harsh. Any child who shows signs of the old races is cast into the Pit of the Missing, never to be seen again. Yaz is only sixteen, but she feels a burgeoning gift and she knows the next gathering will be her last--the priests see everything. But then she is spared and her brother is identified as and cast down into the pit. Stunned, she flings herself in after him. She expects to find death. Instead she finds a sprawling, secret civilization, where survival is even less assured than on the ice plains. And she soon realizes that this underground empire revolves around a great truth--and an even greater evil--that puts all of Abeth in danger.
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The Last Human
by
Zack Jordan
Introducing: Sarya Vald is the galaxy's worst nightmare: a Human. Fortunately, she's the last one. Adopted and raised by the alien Senya, a terrifying sentient spider-like species known as a Widow, Sarya has lived on a space station her entire life.
What happens: When the space station's central intelligence, ELLIE, a grumpy 1,500 year-old AI, outs Sarya as a restricted species and threatens to throw her out the nearest airlock, she is forced to flee as the station's inhabitants begin to riot, Sarya commandeers a ship, a talkative space-suit, a cheerful pet (that happens to be a floating blob), and heads for the edge of civilization.
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The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow Introducing: January Scaller, who rebels against her wealthy and eccentric guardian by secretly exploring doorways to other realms with her companion Bad, a very good dog.
Want a taste? "There's only one way to run away from your own story, and that's to sneak into someone else's."
Does the dog die? No! It's all good! | | Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire Welcome to: Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children, an unorthodox boarding school for young people who’ve returned, often unwillingly, from journeys to fantasy realms.
What happens: New student Nancy longs to return to the Underworld, but when a killer starts stalking the school, she has to put aside her dreams of death to keep her friends alive.
What sets it apart: Asexual Nancy is just one of several LGBTQIA characters in this intriguing dark fantasy, the 1st in a series. | | The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern What happens: A mysterious book leads graduate student Zachary Ezra Rawlins on a magical quest to another world, hidden in plain sight.
Why you might like it: A puzzle box narrative and dreamlike prose distinguish this atmospheric novel by the author of The Night Circus.
Want a taste? "Zachary Ezra Rawlins stares at the miniature versions of the same symbols he once contemplated in an alleyway behind his mother's store and wonders how, exactly, he is supposed to continue a story he didn't know he was in." | |
The Long Earth
by
Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
What happens: In the not-too-distant future, a process called "Stepping" allows humans to travel to parallel Earths. Only a few, like Joshua Valienté, can do so without technical assistance. Hired by the transEarth Institute to explore the limits of the Long Earth, Joshua soon makes an alarming discovery.
Why you might like it: Simultaneously amusing and thought-provoking, this collaboration by the late Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter kicks off the five-volume Long Earth series, which continues with The Long War.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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